Last Friday my friend Tom and I decided to go driving in our local area after we had finished watching our schools play basketball and before we were due at a birthday party. My favorite activity in Japan is driving on their crazy tiny roads, turning when I feel the next road looks more interesting than the one I am on. The roads here tend to get windy through the mountains and can lead you to some amazing and surprising places. Even though I have been in my sleepy urban town for 3 years I still manage to find new hills to climb in my little car. 10 minutes after setting out we found the perfect road which led us to an intersection lined with English signs directing us to some new places. Of course I jumped at the chance and we found ourselves in a very old section of my town. The homes were HUGE and very traditional. Most of them guarded by high walls and inside those walls were amazing gardens. Japanese people enjoy a luxury of safety here so it is common to leave your gate open. We winded down the narrow brick street oohing and ahhing at this place which was giving us a glimpse of old Japan. I could easily picture the old rickshaws and kimono clad ladies bustling about with their daily duties. The paddy fields provided a lush green against the aged dark brown woods and dingy white stucco of the homes.
Soon we came to a temple. Few temples make me pull over anymore, they seem to run together after three years, but this one was special. For one, it was huge and that is rare in my small town. Unfortunately the temple is being renovated so we continued on our journey. A few minutes later we came to a shrine located in a cedar forest. I had no idea this was here! I knew my town had 3 pagodas in it, and I always wondered where the two I had yet to locate where, and now I only need to find 1 more! This was a beautiful and serene place. I will not describe it, just enjoy the pictures below. We left the temple and headed further up the road which led to a mountain pass. MY FAVORITE! Soon we were following a creek and enjoying the cooler temperatures. Then we came upon a lake, well resevoir for the dam, but it was beautiful and azure blue! We drove down to the shore and waded in the water, skipping rocks and admiring the late afternoon sun. A narrow road led up another hill and boasted warnings. I naturally thought it was a great idea...Tom gripped the dashboard and prayed my little car wouldn't fail me. It was a animal reservation area. An old road abandoned because of numerous landslides. We saw a deer that seemed more in shock of us than we were of it. We parked the car when the road no longer seemed safe and set off hiking. About 1/4 mile up the trail we saw why the road was less traveled. A VERY BIG landslide. Just as we were turning to go home we heard a rustling in the hill above us. Clearly an animal on 4 legs was watching us and moving about. Tom thought that was cool, I bolted. I have always said I know my position on the food chain when unarmed and fully believe a rabbit could take me if he wanted. This being black bear cub season though, I took no chances. It was the end of our trip, we hastily made are way to the party 4 villages away.
1st temple
1st temple 2nd temple
A creek we came upon
The lake A warning about flash floods
So as the title says, I support driving on random roads. My parents did this with my brother and I when we were children. We packed a cooler of snacks, some bottles of water and took off. The goal, get really lost. Back then I enjoyed the trips that were successful but frequently complained as any child would. I didn't like listening to my dad's music, my mom ALWAYS wanted to talk to us and we couldn't play with our Gameboys. Now of course I see the reason why my parents did this. Sometimes you need to unplug and put yourself in close proximity to your family in order to actually be a family. Those lazy Sundays taught me more than I realized. My parents did this in every country we lived in. We saw incredible stuff like a peacock farm, old bombed out shelters from WWII, amazing Thai temples no tourist had been too. If you get the chance to aimlessly drive around you town, do it. Turn off the cell phones, DVD players, and video games. Turn up the music and roll down the windows.
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